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amazone
Stranger
Registered: 09/21/18
Posts: 5
Last seen: 6 years, 1 month
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40-year-old spores
#25588076 - 11/02/18 11:48 PM (6 years, 2 months ago) |
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So let me say right off the bat that I know these spores are probably a lost cause. I bought them in a Florida head shop, in the days when spores were still sold in head shops. I've been hauling them around for over 40 years, and now I'm finally ready to try my hand at growing.
I'm taking it slow, and trying to learn as I go. I poured some agar dishes just to see how it's done. The first ones were poured on the kitchen counter, with the agar / BRF mix coming right out of a pan boiling on the stove. They all showed contamination within a week. Next, I used a still air box, with dishes sterilized in the oven and agar sterilized in a pressure cooker. It's been a week now, and none of those plates show signs of contamination. But before I use my "good" spores, I want to give these a try.
Back in the day ("Age of Aquarius") there were stories of how magic mushroom spores drifted in from other planets, maybe other stars. I don't actually believe those stories, but I don't know for a fact that they aren't true either. If they're true, 40 years is nothing. I feel like it's worth trying anyway, for practice if for no other reason.
I have three packages: a decent-looking nickel-sized wedge of a Psilocybe cubensis in a plastic petri dish, and two plastic petri dishes containing capsules with a piece of paper about as big as a 1/4 inch slice of a postage stamp, on which you can barely see spores, one labeled Panaeolus subbalteatus, and the other labeled Psilocybe cyanescens. I figure I'll start with the two capsules, and save the wedge for later.
I posted previously about making spore syringes and was talked out of it, but someone suggested just dumping sterile water into a plastic baggie with the spore print. I feel like I'll need to hydrate the spores before dropping them on agar if there is any hope at all of germinating them, but I'm here for advice.
Given that this is probably a fool's waste of time, what suggestions do you have for making germination on agar as likely as it could possibly be?
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Katz 206
High Wizard



Registered: 10/29/17
Posts: 757
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Re: 40-year-old spores [Re: amazone]
#25588098 - 11/03/18 12:18 AM (6 years, 2 months ago) |
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well your not gonna get ps cyanescens to fruit indoors, but somewhere i read that you should get a really tiny piece of cardboard and wipe the spores on one side and then place it into the agar so the spores are on the top and the side with no spores is facing the dish, boil the cardboard as well before you wipe some spore on it.
i think the idea in that is to allow the ps cyans to germ on the cardboard, and then the mycelium till spread in the dish.
you can also get away with lower temps with ps cyans which i think will also reduce contams.
the subs im not sure about. but im sure theres a way you can make a LC or something with a small amount of spores and then get some of the mycelium to colonize something the pan subs will like. (they are now called panaeolus cinctulus by the way)
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sandman420
Saint PP



Registered: 06/17/04
Posts: 5,387
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Re: 40-year-old spores [Re: Katz 206]
#25588735 - 11/03/18 10:11 AM (6 years, 2 months ago) |
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Germinate on softer MEA agar such as 5-7 grams per 500ml water. Let us know how it works!
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amazone
Stranger
Registered: 09/21/18
Posts: 5
Last seen: 6 years, 1 month
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Re: 40-year-old spores [Re: amazone]
#25596012 - 11/06/18 12:03 PM (6 years, 2 months ago) |
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Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try the cardboard and MEA. I just saw contamination in one of the latest 6 dishes I poured, so I'll probably practice pouring some more BRF agar and (once I hit the homebrew supply store) ME agar before I start dropping spores. ME looks like it's a lot more expensive than BRF, but agar-agar is cheap so it's worth spending some time to improve my sanitary technique before I take the next step.
I'll definitely come back and post my results -- I expect the results will be negative (spores no longer viable) but you never know. Succeed or fail, I'll update this thread.
If anyone else has suggestions to try, I'll definitely have enough of the 40-year-old cubensis spores to do multiple tests, so feel free to chime in.
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FishLevelMidnight
Aquaman



Registered: 09/01/17
Posts: 2,328
Last seen: 8 months, 15 days
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Re: 40-year-old spores [Re: amazone]
#25596047 - 11/06/18 12:27 PM (6 years, 2 months ago) |
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Pour your agar soft (8.50-9g per 500 mL, instead of 10) so have enough moisture for your old spores to germinate, they could take up to a month. Make sure to secure the petri with cling wrap or parafilm or they will dry out before hydrating.
It would be a good idea to add some spores to 4-5 mL and then put into a syringe. You can secure the top and add a few rubber bands to increase pressure and help "force hydrate" the spores. 2-5 days of forced hydration should improve germination, but it may be a lost cause.
Spores likely wouldn't survive space due to gamma rays and what not, if they did survive the DNA would be fucked.
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